Eddie Pepperell’s hopes of climbing back into the top 50 to qualify for the Masters suffered a big blow as he was disqualified from the 2020 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters yesterday.
The former champion had recovered from a sluggish start to post a level-par 71 at the Education City Golf Club (ECGC) yesterday, but it counted for nothing after he was disqualified for a scorecard error.
The European Tour announced he had been disqualified for signing for a birdie at 17th, where he actually made a par, but the Englishman later revealed he had initially corrected further errors on his card.
Pepperell, one of golf’s most outspoken pros, insisted he accepted the decision, but he was clearly unhappy with the circumstances that led to his second disqualification from a European Tour event in four months.
Pepperell’s disqualification in Qatar follows his bizarre exit from the Turkish Airlines Open last November, when he ran out of balls in the third round.
Yesterday, the 29-year-old tweeted his disappointment at being disqualified and declared the rules as “a fair distance from common sense”.
“My DQ today wasn’t due to me running out of balls, or hitting anyone, instead, I signed for a wrong score. My total, 71, was correct and I indeed signed for that. However, my partner had me down for a 5 on one hole where I made a 6, and a 4 on another, where I made 3,” he tweeted.
“Therefore this meant I was disqualified. Quite disappointing as I actually took the time to change the original error, only to make a costlier one myself. I asked the referee if this had any bearing on my disqualification but it didn’t.
“The rules are the rules (sic) and I 100% accept that, but I can’t help feeling that this particular way of disqualification is a fair distance away from common sense, and that’s also disappointing. I enjoyed the course however and hopefully next time I’ll do a better job,” the Englishman expressed.
Pepperell, who pulled out of last week’s Oman Open due to coronavirus fears, entered the week ranked 63rd in the world after an erratic start to 2020, missing the cut in South Africa and Abu Dhabi before bouncing back with a tie for 11th at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Starting from the tenth and playing alongside French duo Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Benjamin Hebert, Pepperell dropped three shots on his first two holes.
The 29-year-old recovered to sink a trio of birdies at the 12th, 13th and 14th, before picking up a further two shots at the 16th and 18th. Pepperell was two-under at the turn and continued to impress with another birdie at the first. But he double-bogeyed the third hole and dropped another shot at the fourth to fall back down the field. Pepperell was under par again after another birdie at the fifth, before a final bogey followed at the ninth.
Pepperell would need to be ranked in the top 50 to guarantee qualification for the next month’s Augusta Masters.